


The One That Got Away

by Thistlerose



Category: DCU (Animated), Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Episode Related, F/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, episode: s03e08 The Great Brain Robbery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2014-10-29
Packaged: 2018-02-23 03:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2532617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thistlerose/pseuds/Thistlerose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tala has a proposition for Wally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One That Got Away

**Author's Note:**

> This began life as a humorous story, based on the idea that Flash is apparently better in bed than Lex Luthor (which may not be saying much, but still). But I quickly realized that what happens between Flash and Tala in "The Great Brain Robbery" could possibly be interpreted as mutual dub-con (since she thought he was someone else, and he had to maintain his ruse in order to stay not-dead) and I proceeded from there. Obviously, with their different value systems, Tala and Wally are going to see things differently.  
> 

It was one of those fine early fall evenings: the air was crisp but not cold; the edges of the leaves were only just beginning to crinkle; and the almost-full moon hung low and was the same mellow gold as the streetlamp lights. Wally was still buzzing from his date with Linda (she liked him! she'd even laughed at some of his jokes! she'd kissed him goodnight! on the cheek, but still!) so he decided to take a leisurely stroll through the park instead of dashing straight home. 

And that was where he ran into Tala.

She slipped out a copse of beech trees, her long oval face white as bone in the moonlight, her lavender hair spilling down her back in a rippling cascade. Silver brows arched over those spooky, pale eyes of hers, and her dark-stained lips folded in a smile. "Hello, lover," she purred.

Wally instantly assumed a fighting stance.

Tala laughed and waved a dismissive hand at him. "Oh, relax," she said. "I'm not here to fight you. I have a proposition."

Wally glanced around and listened intently, but there was no sign of anyone else lurking among the beeches. "What do you want, Tala?" he demanded. "Or I guess I should say, what does Luthor want?"

"Lex?" The pale eyes flared, not in anger so much as amusement. "Oh, I am not here for Lex, darling. I'm here on my own behalf."

"You actually do things on your own behalf?"

Okay, _that_ struck a chord; now she seemed a little annoyed with him. But her frown only lasted a moment. "Of course. It's true I like powerful men--"

"And powerful gorillas," Wally muttered.

"--but there are reasons they find _me_ useful as well."

"I can think of one reason."

Tala put her hands on her hips and regarded him haughtily, not a trace of shame in her face or carriage. "I have my own wants and needs," she declared. "Totally independent of the men in my life. And one of those wants and needs is…" Was it just his imagination, or did her eyes suddenly gleam? "...another man in my life."

Given the way she was looking at him, there was absolutely no misinterpreting her meaning; a cold, thick _something_ wriggled in his stomach. Still, he tried because, hey, he was a superhero and that was what superheroes did. "A new man! Great idea. You and Luthor, even you and Grodd - just never seemed right to me. I mean, you're a beautiful, intelligent - albeit evil - woman. You could have any man you wanted."

Okay, _wrong_ choice of words.

"I can't stop thinking about our time together," Tala said, gliding forward, her hips swaying sinuously. 

Wally backed up a step or five.

"Such enthusiasm. Such…" Her sigh was full-throated and luxuriant. 

"About that," Wally said, raising his hands to stop her coming any closer. "I actually feel kind of bad. For deceiving you."

"I don't care."

"Yeah, well - I do. You thought I was Luthor and I … didn't want to get murdered. It was a totally weird set of circumstances, but I should've said no."

"I'm glad you didn't."

"Well, it was still wrong and I'm sorry."

She blinked at him, her head tilted slightly, as if she didn't quite understand what he was trying to say. Different values system, he supposed. The fact that she wasn't upset didn't make him feel any better. "Look," he started to say, but she cut short his explanation with a wave of one long-fingered white hand.

"No apologies," she said. "Anyway, I don't believe you. You enjoyed it as much as I did."

The cold, thick thing in his stomach squirmed. He actually felt a little queasy. Damn, and he'd been having such a good evening! Going from Linda to this was … a comedown to say the least. "Maybe I did," he said quickly. "A little bit. Like I said, you're a beautiful woman and it had been a long time. But it was _wrong_. Maybe you can't see it 'cause you're evil, maybe you do see it and you don't _care_ 'cause you're evil … but that's how I see it, and it's not gonna happen again. So stop thinking about it. And please stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" Her tone was girlish, innocent.

"Like … you're thinking about it."

"Oh, darling. If you truly weren't interested in my proposition, you wouldn't still be here listening."

"Maybe I just want you to understand."

She shook her head. Her hair shimmered in the lamplight. "You know it would be enjoyable."

"No," said Wally.

"Lex wouldn't care."

"I don't actually care what Lex Luthor thinks about my sex life, or anyone else's." The thought made his toes curl. "I'm not interested because it's wrong. For me. It's not how _I_ operate. We're _enemies_ , Tala. Remember that? You: constantly trying to take over the world. Me: constantly trying to stop you. Every relationship has obstacles, I get it, but that's … kind of a major obstacle! Like, Mount Everest-sized. It's not gonna happen."

She was actually listening to him. He could tell by the way her lashes flickered every few seconds. But then, once he'd stopped talking, she said matter-of-factly, "I don't want a relationship. I have a relationship with Lex. With you, I just want sex."

" _No_ ," said Wally.

"It would be our little secret. Nobody in the Secret Society or the Justice League would ever have to know."

"No."

"Because I'm evil?"

"Because you're evil. And because--" _No. Don't mention Linda. Don't even think about her. If you put her in any danger…_

"Perhaps … you could save me?" Her tone had a teasing lilt, as if she were no longer interested in convincing him now, but just probing for pressure points. At his soft inhalation, her eyes lit up. "Yes, perhaps," she went on with mocking thoughtfulness. "After all, you are so good, so righteous. You _care_ about people. But perhaps I am not worth saving. Because I'm evil."

"Tala…" Man, he felt tired now: like if he tried to run, he'd probably stumble. No doubt that was an illusion - he wasn't naturally clumsy - but it felt real. "Tala, listen to me. That's not how it works. Yeah, I care, and if you really wanted to turn your life around, of course I'd help. But you have to want to change … for you. You have to actually admit that you've done some rotten things, and you wanna make it better. Be different. For _you._ Not 'cause you wanna get with some guy."

After a moment's silence, Tala said, "Please tell me you are done talking; now you are making me sick."

"You see?" He waggled a finger at her weakly. "It wouldn't work between us. But you know, if Luthor's not treating you right, you don't have to stay with him. And you don't just have to wait for the next wannabe alpha male to come along. You can be with someone who treats you better, even if he's still a villain. Or you can be alone. Who says you need a man? Wonder Woman's a great one to talk to if you--"

She pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. "Please stop."

He dropped his hand back to his side.

Her face was still half-hidden. Her voice was muffled, so Wally might only have imagined that it shook as she said, "If you tell me that I must first learn to love myself, I will kill you."

He didn't say anything.

Silence in the park, except for the faint rustle of the leaves as the wind moved through them, and the distant, almost dreamlike sounds of traffic. The air had turned cold; Wally shivered, but he stayed where he was, watching her. After what seemed like a long time, Tala lifted her head. Her features were perfectly composed, her lips pressed together in a straight line, her gaze hard as moonstone.

"Flash-baby," she said. "Fine, if I cannot persuade you, I will leave you. I will not speak of this again. I will let you leave here in peace, just this once - if you will do something for me."

He was pretty sure she couldn't stop him from leaving - she might be fast with her magic, but she wasn't faster than him - but curiosity poked at him. "What?" he asked warily.

"What do you look like?"

The question startled him. Of all the sick, strange things she could have requested - that had not even crossed his mind. And it was the way she said it, too: wistfully, almost. Like she wasn't trying to get anything out of him, but just wanted to know. Like she was curious. Like anyone would be.

Did he owe her that much? he wondered. Did he owe her anything?

In a second, he made his decision. Batman would probably kick his ass if he ever found out, but Wally didn't plan on telling him or anyone else. "I have red hair," he heard himself say. "And green eyes." It felt wrong, somehow, but he told himself there was no harm in her knowing that much; there were enough guys running around Central City who fit that description. He wasn't about to offer her any more.

Fortunately, she seemed satisfied with his answer. In any case, she smiled. "Thank you, darling. And now I will leave you. The next time I see you, perhaps I will kill you. Or perhaps I will let Lex do it; he wants to, very much. And he doesn't even know… But I won't tell him. It is our secret." 

She melted backward into the shadows of the beech trees, disappearing slowly until only her pale eyes were visible against the darkness. Then they vanished, and Wally was alone, and the shudder he hadn't realized he'd been suppressing suddenly moved through him, rattling his teeth and his bones. He took a few stumbling steps off the path, over to the stone wall that ran around the perimeter of the park. Leaning against it, he shuddered again.

Creepy, he thought. Creepy, creepy woman. _Why_ had he felt compelled to describe himself to her? It had felt right at the time, but now he wasn't so sure at all. Was it because he felt sorry for her - which he did - or because he was just very, very stupid? It had taken two years and an alien invasion for him to show his face to the Justice League. Linda didn't even know what he looked like yet.

 _She can't use what she knows,_ he told himself. _It's not enough information. Calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen._

Still, he almost wished Batman _would_ show up to kick his ass.

 _It is our secret,_ she'd said. God, he hoped she meant that. Not that he was so worried about Lex Luthor; if the guy already had it in for him, knowing that Wally had once banged his girlfriend - and she'd liked it, even more than she'd initially let on - was not going to make his situation any more dire. But if anyone in the Justice League found out…

But, so what if they did? Everyone in the League had done something stupid at one time or another. Look at GL and Shayera. Look at Superman, falling for Luthor's tricks. Even Batman must have done something stupid at some point in his career.

Anyway, it was just sex. Right?

If there was more to it than that, he told himself, he wasn't going to figure it out standing around in park at ten at night. He should go home. Eat something. Take a shower. Go to sleep.

He should talk to someone first, though. That was the smart, responsible thing to do. He didn't have to tell them everything, just that he'd had a weird encounter with the Secret Society. Yeah. Wally lifted a hand to his ear transmitter, hesitated for a few long, harsh breaths, then said-- "GL? You there?"

After a few seconds, he heard the response, a little faint, but clear: "Yeah, I'm here. Everything okay? You in some kind of trouble?"

"I … no."

"You don't sound too sure." Wally could hear the sudden alertness in GL's tone, despite the distance. He pictured him turning off the TV and pushing himself up against the sofa cushions, getting ready to fly to the rescue.

"Nah, it's cool," Wally said a little too briskly. "Just … wanted to say hi."

"Hi," GL drawled. A pause, then: "Date didn't go so well, I take it?"

"Date went great. Er."

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"You sure? You sound kinda weird. Do you wanna come over?"

"It's like ten o'clock."

"I've got a clock," GL informed him dryly. "It's right next to the television I was watching when you called. It's ten thirty-seven. Do you need to come over?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. But … thanks. Night, man." He broke the connection. He didn't want to talk, he'd decided, not just then. But it was nice to know someone gave a damn, someone who could tell just by listening when he wasn't being completely honest, but who knew better than to push.

He doubted Tala had anyone like that in her life.

_Stop. She didn't want to be saved by you. She just threw that out there because she knew it would mess with your head. She wanted something else, which you didn't want, because it would've been completely wrong on at least fifty different levels. You had every right to say no. Stop being an idiot. You can't save everyone._

Maybe that was the issue. 

Crap, maybe he should've gone over to GL's apartment. They didn't have to talk. He could've just raided GL's fridge, watched the rest of whatever boring war documentary he had on, and fallen asleep on his sofa. He'd done it before, back when GL was trying to get over Shayera, and wanted company but not conversation. The thing was…

Right at that moment, he didn't feel like he deserved that.

He couldn't save everyone. It wasn't his job to save everyone.

It kind of sucked. It kind of made him feel like a failure, even though, not too far away, there was an entire museum dedicated to his amazingness, and John Stewart had been all set to drop everything and fly to his rescue, and Linda Park had kissed him goodnight. (On the cheek, but still.)

_I can't save everyone._

He let out a sigh, which was lost as another gust of wind shook the trees. _Go home_ , it seemed to say. Or possibly, _Get over yourself._ Smart advice, either way, Wally supposed.

Go home.

Get over yourself.

Yeah.

And he did, but slowly.

10/28/2014


End file.
